Mere Phantoms (Canada)

Garden of Earthly Delights

January 19–21, 2017

Main Stage

Photo: courtesy of the artist

Inspired by the Hieronymus Bosch painting of the same name, this is an experience of the city as rendered in darkness. In this immersive journey, viewers are guided by shadow projections and sound cues to bring a procession of dreamscapes to life. With specially designed light wands, spectators move from a lush tropical jungle to an urban maze of concrete, cables and characters. The cityscape appears as shadows on the wall, becoming an abstraction even as its physical essence is laid bare.

Mere Phantoms takes 16th century notions of heaven and hell and welds them to a modern inquiry. This urban maze: is it fantasy or nightmare? Decide for yourself as you experience the magic via light and paper. This is illusionism at its finest—refined down to a beautiful binary of black and white.

These two artists are creating powerful and captivating work and take the experience of shadow play to a whole new level.